Last day flukin

[Foul Hook]

Ok who is going? Thinking about hitting it hard tomorrow if not just hitting the bar! Who is in.

[Duffman]

NE 20 gusts to 25. 6-9 subsiding 6-7 afternoon.

Hard pass.

Fat lady has sung.

[Broad Bill]

It's over. No doubt some fish left in the rivers but forget about outside. Those fish are on their way to the shelf unfortunately being pounded by draggers as they go. Can't begin to imagine the waste involved this time of year with the number of lower value fish caught in nets thrown back dead. The percentage of catch draggers kill harvesting their allowable quota is staggering. Images in the attached link should give everyone some ideas of what happened to our winter flounder fishery and the same will eventually happen to summer flounder as well.

https://images.app.goo.gl/hw8vT9svtcs15Cw38

https://images.app.goo.gl/ojjC9Si8EQ5vr1cA8

https://images.app.goo.gl/hhcSEVGTUaDpdzbY6

Amazing that NMFS shows lower discard mortality rates for commercial then they do for recreational. That's not even remotely possible, any fish undersize or of lesser market value in that net goes back dead. I'd say 99% of fluke that are bucktailed go back alive which makes up a majority of the recreational harvest every year.

Two changes fisheries management needs to make and we'd all be happy anglers. First, keep what you catch commercially (no discards) and second leave the stock alone during the spawn. We, both commercial and recreational, would experience the best fishing we've ever seen with these stocks.

PS.....SCARY SHIT!

https://deal.town/the-new-york-times...luke-P3FPB75KE

It's no wonder we're at a 3 fish limit.

[FISHGERE]

Originally Posted by Broad Bill

It's over. No doubt some fish left in the rivers but forget about outside. Those fish are on their way to the shelf unfortunately being pounded by draggers as they go. Can't begin to imagine the waste involved this time of year with the number of lower value fish caught in nets thrown back dead. The percentage of catch draggers kill harvesting their allowable quota is staggering. Should give everyone some ideas of what happened to our winter flounder fishery and the same will eventually happen to summer flounder as well. Amazing that in MFS shows lower the discord percentages to harvest for commercial then they do for recreational. That's not even remotely possible, any fish undersize or of lesser market value in that net goes back dead. I'd say 99% of fluke that are bucktailed go back alive which makes up a majority of the recreational harvest every year.

agree commerical are killing the fishing

[NoLimit]

Was there any doubt that the commercial draggers have blown up the whiting, ling, fluke, and flounder stocks. BTW, that one net looks to be full of huge winter flounder going by the small size of the mouths.

[Broad Bill]

No limit, they are winter flounder in all shots other than the story about the ******* from Montauk who exceeded his fluke limit by 200,000 lbs. That's probably only 60,000 - 70,000 illegal fish harvested by one crooked commercial operator and from the article it sounds like that's a common practice in Montauk and I'm sure up and down the coast. Have to wonder what all these on board federal observers employed by NOAA are doing while this kind of practice is routinely occurring at sea. I gather it subsidizes their 401k plans. Highly concentrated schools of winter flounder summering offshore are netted like fish in a barrel. Same as fluke with highly concentrated schools of fish wintering offshore that get absolutely pounded from December through March. At least winter flounder, when there actually was a respectable stock remaining, spawned in the bays. Summer flounder are spawning now and being annihilated by draggers working these concentrated schools working their way offshore. NMFS has their heads up their ass with both these fisheries.

The winter flounder fishery, like whiting and ling, was destroyed overnight. Same will eventually happen with summer flounder if fisheries management doesn't learn what it means to manage a stock versus turning a blind eye and exploiting it for the benefit of the commercial sector. Remember the number one focus of decisions being made regarding summer flounder for the commercial sector is catch values meaning harvest larger fish while killing millions of juvenile fish in the process. Number one focus for the recreational sector is fishing effort. They could care less how many fish you actually harvest, just maximize trips so you spend the most $ to stimulate the economy and then throw out unsupported and overstated MRIP catch statistics to say the sector overfishes it's quota every year. That's not a sustainable philosophy. Case in point, how many people does anyone know who actually fishes for winter flounder these days. At one time it was one of the premier fisheries in our waters just like mackerel, cod, ling and whiting and now they're all gone. What would most recreational anglers, including party and for hire operators, do between June and September if the same happens to summer flounder. Think about it because it's going to eventually happen.